Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Chicken Soup for the Body

Care for a bowl of this delicious soup? I made just a little variation on my regular recipe, and it was a real hit. All but one member, who happened to be the youngest, didn't even mind eating it twice this week. [For the second serving, I boiled 3 more chicken quarters and added the pulled meat straight to the pot.]
         I began by boiling 3 chicken quarters in about 4 quarts of lightly salted water, and when they were very tender, I took them out to cool. Later these were de-boned and divided into the 5 soup bowls. I then added 4 small potatoes, 3 chopped carrots and 2 carrots cut lengthwise only, half an onion (not chopped), 3 stalks of celery, a small head of brocoli, 3 small zucchini, a good portion of cabbage in 1 inch squares, and 2 whole tomatoes. By timing the addition of the veggies, you can get the harder vegetables tender and the more delicate one just right. In the blender I pureed the tomatoes after the skins had burst, the long carrot pieces, the onion and whatever veggies came with the ladle. After pouring it into the pot, I put about a cup or more of water and a half cup of flour into the blender to thoroughly mix it. Now that the vegetables were soft, I added the flour and let it simmer another minute or two and it all thickened very nicely. I love the deep color the tomatoes take on after being simmered a few minutes. To my "shame", I have to admit to succumbing to temptation: I added two chicken bouillon cubes. Because of msg, I rarely use them. Do you think all the veggie goodness made up for my transgression?

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